Scandal, Fast And Furious Scandal | featured news

Republican congressional investigators have concluded that five senior ATF officials — including the special agent in charge of the Phoenix field office and the bureau's top man in Washington — were responsible for the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation that was "marred by missteps, poor judgments and inherently reckless strategy."

"We need answers on this. Not defensive BS. Real answers."... Two of [Attorney General Eric] Holder's emails and one from [Deputy Attorney General James] Cole appear to show that they hadn't known about gun-walking but were determined to find out whether the allegations were true.

Leaders of the Republican-run House expect to vote this afternoon on a contempt of Congress citation for Attorney General Eric Holder... White House spokesman Jay Carney denounced the planned contempt vote as "political theater, an action taken by Congress that does not respond to the most urgent priorities of the American people."

A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust.

The House committee chairman leading the fight to get Justice Department documents about a troubled gun-tracking operation says there's no evidence so far that White House officials were involved in misleading Congress or engaged in a cover-up....

A U.S. congressional panel voted on Wednesday to charge Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress after the Obama administration invoked executive privilege for the first time since coming to office, withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running investigation... "Instead of creating jobs or strengthening the middle class, congressional Republicans are spending their time on a politically motivated, taxpayer-funded election-year fishing expedition," White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said.

Kenneth E. Melson, under fire in connection with the controversial Fast and Furious gun-trafficking investigation, announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, several sources tell The Times.

Kenneth Melson, the ATF's acting director, claims Justice Department officials refuse to release a telling internal report on the Fast and Furious operation. The Justice Department is trying to protect its political appointees from the Fast and Furious scandal by concealing an internal "smoking gun" report and other documents that acknowledge the role top officials played in the program that allowed firearms to flow illegally into Mexico, according to the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.